Thursday, August 20, 2009

Beautiful Creatures

I suppose it's time I discussed material that originated in my brain. Until now, all my bragging rights have been cradled in the ownership of other people's hands. Snow Angel was the start of something much larger, I'd say, but when I approached that story, it wasn't mine from the start. It was created at the request of another.

That said, it was an amazing experience, and something I thoroughly enjoyed. Then came Vehicle, of which I am a major contributor, but again it was a product of another individual's creative investment. I am happy to be part of it, no question, but along the way I've really started to get selfish.

And I think it's about damn time.

On September 23rd, Red 5 Comics is releasing my creation: Beautiful Creatures. It's a long story in the telling, but the point is fairly clear: I'm published.

The origin of this fantasy comedy series is uninteresting, truth be told. Like most of my material, it's a smash up of various story ideas that eventually made the transition to a comic script. The interesting bits are the lead up to finally landing some interest.

In March of 2008, I emailed an artist named Ash Jackson about the script I'd written. His style was perfect for the heart of my story, a cartoony vibe with amazing characterization and an eye for dynamic camera. He replied shortly that he was interested in collaborating on a pitch. By April, he had the first five pages completed in pencil, but at that point I had yet to find a colourist. I lettered the penciled pages, had one page coloured by Hilary Jenkins, and started to submit.

Of course, as was something I was prepared for, the rejection letters came back fast and furious. Disheartened, I abandoned the project for the summer. Then, fall rolled around and I was still lamenting the lack of progress in my writing career. I decided to attack all my submissions again, revisiting, in particular, Beautiful Creatures (then titled The Reborn). I contacted Frank Zigarelli, an extremely talented artist, about coming on board to colour the pitch. Amazingly, he too agreed and our team was complete.

With six pages now, Ash having completed one more for good measure, I hit the campaign trail for our project.